Bird Sightings Week 50December 10-16*

A gorgeous morning with lots of birds today. Owls were a
highlight, with everyone getting to see a day-roosting Barn Owl,
and with two more species seen pre-dawn. More than 1000 Cackling
Geese were also special.

Common Raven – First of Fall – two, which flew around
and perched, calling

Cedar Waxwing – flock of five at Rowing Club

Townsend’s Warbler – Milt spotted one near mansion

After the walk, I made a quick scan of the lake, trying to
confirm the identity of the SCAUP (3 were LESSER, a 4th may have
been GREATER), and to figure out if a grebe we’d seen had been
WESTERN or HORNED GREBE – still don’t know, since I was able to
find one Horned and four Western on the late scan. :) New for
the list were one male HOODED MERGANSER and 7 COMMON MERGANSERS.
I also had a large numbers of PIED-BILLED GREBE (30+) and
BUFFLEHEAD (80+), where we’d had about 2 and 15 respectively
from the Lake Platform.

After weeks of limited/no sightings of ANNA’S HUMMINGBIRDS,
we had males on all of their usual territorial perches today.
Maybe the coming solstice is telling them to get back to their
spots and attract some females.

A remarkably nice day, with temps hovering around the freeze,
almost no breeze at all, and a thin blanket of high clouds that
occasionally showed blue. It gave us comfortable conditions and
good light. The geese dominated the scene, but there was more to
see too.

Highlights:

Gr. Wh.-fronted Goose
Two with Cackling Geese
Snow Goose
One found by people exiting the park to the NE
CACKLING GOOSE
2000+, with lots of movement.
Mostly staying on grassy fields
Canada Goose
100+ only
American Wigeon
Flock of ~35 in slough below weir
Highish count for Marymoor
- Nine species of duck-
Bald Eagle
Adult eating coot along slough;
2nd came in, chase ensued
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Juvenile along boardwalk
Great Horned Owl
Matt heard early, near mansion
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Matt glimpsed early, south of East Meadow
Pileated Woodpecker
1 heard, glimpsed, near mansion just after 8
MERLIN
1 on fir above mansion just after 8
Northern Shrike
E and SE of East Meadow today
Yellow-rumped Warbler
A handful of “Audubon’s” about
Western Meadowlark
~12 near model airplane field

The CACKLING GEESE were amazing, with huge flocks flying in
and landing right around 8:00 a.m. Later, they were split into
2-4 flocks on the fields, and when spooked, they’d rearrange
themselves. So they were a constant presence in the air and on
the ground.

We also saw 2 COYOTE on the far side of the slough. Matt saw
American Beaver pre-dawn near the lake platform.

Not the nicest day for birding. At least the thunder and
lightening that Matt walked through in the early pre-dawn didn’t
stick around. Instead, we got a little of everything, including
a moment when we could see our shadows. But mostly it was some
combination of dark overcast, paler overcast, gusty winds, rain,
and pleasant. Very changeable, and rarely pleasant. Rarely birdy
too.

The park is also significantly flooded. There was nearly a
foot of water over the trail as we approached the boardwalk, and
zero to six inches of water over the boardwalk. There was about
15 inches of water leading to the Rowing Club dock. As I was
wearing 15 inch boots, I only got close before deciding there
wasn’t much purpose in going all the way.

Highlights:

Cackling Goose
Some moderately large flocks, never landed.
Common Goldeneye
1 male in slough – First of Fall
Cooper’s Hawk
Adult and juvenile as we started the walk, calling
Barn Owl
Matt saw one about 6:00 a.m. from Viewing Mound
Red-breasted Sapsucker One NE of
mansion
Northern Shrike
Juvenile on soccer goals, north of fields 7-8-9
Bushtit
Flock in willows in the middle of slough below weir
Western Meadowlark
2 near model airplane field early,
N of Viewing Mound later

Matt had COYOTE and AMERICAN BEAVER in his pre-dawn walk.

For the day, just 45 species. CACKLING GEESE were our only
geese, MALLARD were the only dabbling ducks, we managed to count
3 species of gulls in some large flocks but might have missed
others as the flock was VERY flighty due to a Bald Eagle, and
HOUSE FINCH was our only finch.

Remarkably, I heard no real complaints from the 15 birders.
It wasn’t cold (47 degrees), so it wasn’t miserable. And we did
see some things.

== Michael Hobbs

Great Blue Heron. Photo by Hugh Jennings
High water far below the weir. Photo by Bob Asanoma

The weather wasn’t horrible. It was dark. It was occasionally
gusty. We got our first drops of rain right at our 8:00 a.m.
start time, it was raining when we left the Rowing Club at noon,
and it was raining for much of the time in between. It wasn’t
horrible, not really. But after about 9:30, it was QUIET. Most
of the birding highlights involved birds flying overhead, as if
in search of a safe haven.

Highlights:

SNOW GOOSE
One with a small flock of Cacklers overhead
American Wigeon
Large flock passed overhead
Northern Pintail
Large flock passed overhead
Cooper’s Hawk
Several sightings
Virginia Rail
Heard from boardwalk
California Gull
First in a month
Barn Owl
Nice looks, East Meadow, well after 7:00 a.m.
N. SAW-WHET OWL Matt had 1 in Snag Row, 1 from
boardwalk, before 6 American Kestrel
Male between Viewing Mound and model airplane field
MERLIN
Perched atop fir NE of mansion
Northern Shrike
Juvenile north of Fields 7-8-9

And today’s near-misses: Spotted Towhee not *seen* until the
Rowing Club. Ditto for Song Sparrow, though both had been heard
once or twice. European Starling reported only by Ollie Oliver.
House Finch and Red-breasted Nuthatch only heard by Matt.

It was froggy this morning. Hmm. I guess that portmanteau of
frosty and foggy doesn’t work very well. Fosty? Anyway, it was
29 degrees and foggy at 8:00 a.m., and the fog didn’t lift until
the skies clouded over above and the wind picked up, around
10:30. Even though the temps (29-39) were a lot warmer than last
week (20-32), it felt way colder today, with the damp cold and
the late breeze. With the fog, we managed to completely miss the
few minutes of sunshine that some people had. I think some of
the birds few uphill to escape the cold, damp fog...

Highlights:

Gr. White-fronted Goose One with Cacklers
Cackling Goose
Three flocks on the grass fields; 950-1000 birds
TRUMPETER SWAN Single juvenile on lake (confirmed
from cabana late)
Cooper’s Hawk
Adult hunting Killdeer and Green-winged Teal near slough
Virginia Rail
One called spontaneously near Lake Platform
Wilson’s Snipe
Two flew out of slough, just downstream of the weir
Purple Finch
One female

That’s about it for highlights. Not terribly exciting,
actually.

There have been some species notably absent recently. Scaup
have been unusually scarce, though we might have had a pair
today. Gulls have been almost completely absent throughout this
cold spell, with only a few Glaucous-winged Gulls present, and
at most a flyover of a black-wing-tipped gull or two. We haven’t
had a Barn Owl since late October, and have only had one glimpse
of what may have been a Short-eared Owl all fall/winter so far.
Our last Northern Shrike was three weeks ago. The most
surprising has been a complete lack of White-crowned Sparrows,
with only one sighing since mid-October; they’re usually a
near-certainty at this time of year. And finches of all kinds
have been very, very hard to find. We’ve only managed three
sightings each for Purple Finch and American Goldfinch since
October, House Finch numbers have been very low, and Pine
Siskins have been absent altogether.

I did manage a couple of late sightings – Hooded Merganser at
the lake, and American Wigeon in the slough at the north end of
the park, to get our day total teetering right at 50 species.

== Michael Hobbs

Gadwall pair near the weir. Photo by Ollie Oliver
Adult Glaucous-winged x Western Gull hybrid at the weir. Photo by Ollie Oliver

It was overcast, but with no precipitation after 7:00 a.m., and
no wind, and fairly warm, so it made for a pleasant December
outing. Nothing much really unusual showed up. We did pretty
well, especially given that everybody’s minds seemed to be on
CBCs, travel, holidays, and other things today :)

Highlights:

There were 1200-1500 CACKLING GEESE that spent the day on the
grass soccer fields. At one point, an adult BALD EAGLE flew NW
from down near the lake, passing over the fields. All the geese
took off, but the eagle seemed not to notice them at all. The
flock also contained four GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE.

We had one WESTERN GREBE well out on the lake. They’re much
more prevalent at Lake Samm State Park.

After three straight weeks without a Coop, and two weeks
without a Sharpie, we had at least 3-4 accipiters today, with
both SHARP-SHINNED and COOPER’S HAWK represented.

AMERICAN COOTS in the slough numbered 80-100, which is the
most we’ve had at the park since April of 2007. The last time I
recorded more than 25 birds was in November, 2009, where I noted
50.

We managed 4 species of WOODPECKERS, with all of the usuals
except Pileated.

We had 1-2 VARIED THRUSH amongst the numerous Robins near the
mansion.

RED CROSSBILLS were again numerous around the mansion area,
and at the Rowing Club. My estimate of 25 was probably
conservative. PINE SISKINS were very numerous, but the
relatively few flocks that landed close to us did not appear to
contain any redpolls.

At the Rowing Club, there was one TURTLE (a RED-EARED SLIDER)
pulled out on a log, only the second time I’ve noted a turtle in
December.

Big misses for the day included Ring-billed Gull (though none
of the gull flocks landed for our perusal), Northern Shrike
(just the 2nd time this winter we’ve missed them), Marsh Wren,
Red-winged Blackbird, and Purple Finch.

Even so, we managed 56 species. That doesn’t include a “large
owl” (probably Great Horned) that Matt had early, nor the
possible Northern Saw-whet Owls that teased Matt and Josh
separately in the pre-dawn. (We did have at least 2 BARN OWLS
though).

It was gray and intermittently drizzly today,
but really not too bad, though more than a touch dark. Birds
came and went, but it wasn't terribly birdy. We did have a good
day for ducks: 8 species, which is good at Marymoor.

Highlights:

Cackling Goose
Maybe 1000 - awesome
Wood Duck
Pair(?) flew up slough
Common Goldeneye All over the slough
Common Merganser At least 3 males
OSPREY
1 flew north from lake ~8:15
Barn Owl
Early viewers had a couple of great looks
Hairy Woodpecker 1 near mansion
Pileated Woodpecker 1 at Rowing Club
Northern Shrike
One north of fields 7-8-9
Purple Finch
Some nice looks

This was our latest date for OSPREY, and just our 2nd December
sighting ever. Previous late dates: 2007-12-06, 2003-11-26,
2005-11-02. We've also had 4 October sightings.

There were also 2-4 RIVER OTTERS on the lake.

For the day, 55 species.

== Michael Hobbs

Mew Gulls. Photo by Ollie OliverSome of the hundreds of Cackling Geese.
Photo by Ollie Oliver

The rain stopped by 7:30 a.m., so we had a nice morning
with blotchy overcast skies. Not too cold. No wind. Couldn't ask for
much better.

The park is substantially flooded. Flooding begins when the water is
just over 4' at the gauge. Currently, it's about at 6.7', so there's a
large part of the park under 2 1/2 feet of water. We could get no
further than Dog Central on the slough trail, and only to the footbridge
on the east side trail. Much of the Dog Meadow is flooded and closed
off, and it was filled with ducks, geese, and gulls. There's flooding
in the grass/gravel parking lot, in the Pea Patch, and in the Pet
Memorial Garden as well. We could get to the Rowing Club building, but
not to their dock. So we were able to bird only about 1/2 of the slough
and none of the lake.

Best birds were a SWAMP SPARROW in the same place it's been seen twice
mid-November - about 100-150 yards downstream of the weir. Then we had
a SECOND SWAMP SPARROW that was calling from the middle of the flooded
portion of the Dog Meadow. It was more brightly marked than the first.
So 3 of our 8 Swamp Sparrow sightings ever have been this fall.

We had 8 species of duck overall, including GADWALL, NORTHERN SHOVELER,
AMERICAN WIGEON, and GREEN-WINGED TEAL that were hanging out on the
ponds in the Dog Meadow with the MALLARDS.

We had 55 species for the day - not bad considering we couldn't bird
about 1/3 of our route. I had 3 more species yesterday - Ring-necked
Duck, Western Gull, and Brown Creeper, so 58 species for the week.

== Michael

Pine SiskinNorthern Shoveler on one of the huge puddles
in the Dog Meadow

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron

Swamp Sparrow in the Dog Meadow

Greater White-fronted Geese. Photo by
Lillian Reis

Female Common Merganser

Flooded boardwalk and lake platform from
lake

Adult Bald Eagle

Fungi on an alder snag. This fungus
shows just days or weeks before the snag falls.
Photo by Hugh Jennings

Drowned Long-tailed (?) Vole. I saw
three of these, and surely there were many more
2010-12-15

Mew Gulls, 2010-12-15

Killdeer, 2010-12-15

American Wigeon with Mew Gulls, 2010-12-15

Report for December 10, 2009

What a frosty gem of a day. It was only TEN DEGREES at
8AM, but the sun was shining, there was no fog except the merest wisps
over the slough, and it was windless. We were "shakin' our little
HOTTiES" to stay warm, but the sun and the abundant birds helped too.

It seemed there were birds everywhere for most of the morning. Nothing
terribly rare, but, for example, the first grove of trees we passed had
about 20 Dark-eyed Juncos, a good-sized handful of Chestnut-backed
Chicadees, a few Black-capped Chickadees, fluttering Golden-crowned
Kinglets with at least one Ruby-crowned, two Red-breasted Nuthatches, a
Brown Creeper, and a Bewick's Wren. And that was just the first grove
of trees!

Sparrows galore. Five woodpecker species, four finch species, thirteen
species of ducks and geese...

Hugh Jennings got this great shot of the
Merlin at the east end of Snag Row

Hugh Jennings got great photos of hoar frost
on the dock railing

This one of Hugh's was the frost on the
boardwalk railing

Partially leucistic Dark-eyed Junco near the
new shops

Another shot showing the other side of the
head

Three Northern Shovelers. Photo by
Ollie Oliver

Red-breasted Sapsucker. Photo by Ollie Oliver

Townsend's Warbler. Photo by Ollie
Oliver

... and away. Photo by Ollie Oliver

Male Downy Woodpecker, 2009-12-04.
Photo by Lillian Reis

American Robin eating haws from a European Hawthorn, 2009-12-05.
Photo by Brian Dobbins

Report for December 11, 2008

A mild. windless morning today. Not so many small
birds, but still a great day of birding. There were, I believe, 15
birders.

Highlights:

The early birders had BARN OWL at two locations, and a
NORTHERN HARRIER.

As we gathered at 8:00, huge flocks of (primarily)
CACKLING GEESE flew overhead, all looking for a place to land, then
deciding not to stop at Marymoor. My estimate is 2000 geese, by far the
most we've had of that species ever. There were probably a dozen large
flocks, often multiple flocks overhead at once, plus countless small
flocks of ~20. Late in the morning, Matt found some on the ground in
the park, amongst which was a single GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE.

Nearing 9:00 a.m., a flock of 10 TRUMPETER SWANS flew
overhead, towards Lake Sammamish Minutes later, another flock of 41+
flew past, followed by a flock of 14, for a total of at least 65 SWANS!

Soon after, a raptor was spotted in Snag Row. Distant
looks were inconclusive, so we hurried closer. While we were on the
chase, a NORTHERN SHRIKE landed in Snag Row a dozen trees west of the
raptor. The raptor was finally positively identified as a juvenile
PEREGRINE FALCON, and it then flew strongly to the south.

At the south end of the Dog Meadow, we had a small
accipiter which we puzzled over. Several field marks indicated
COOPER'S, but the overall proportions looked more like Sharpie.
Shoopers? Carpie? We decided 85% confidence on Cooper's and left it at
that. On reviewing photos, it appears to be the same bird that we
confidently called a Cooper's the week before.

Lots of great looks at PURPLE FINCH today, working the
few Oregon Ash trees
that still have seeds (most seeds came down in the big blow a few weeks
back).

We found a very nice male AMERICAN KESTREL that seemed
to have an ffinity for the corners of soccer goals - it roamed the whole
of the grass soccer field area, mostly landing only on the corner posts.

The picnic shelter SE of the mansion is surrounded by
conifers, and when we stopped there, they were hopping. A flock of
GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS caught our eyes first, but they were quickly
followed by a flock of BUSHTITS. Next up were two BROWN CREEPER. We
managed to find one or two CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES, a RUBY-CROWNED
KINGLET, and a TOWNSEND'S WARBLER.

I had to leave early, so I raced over to the Rowing Club
ahead of the others, and I'm afraid I had the better of it. I was
greeted by two RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKERS, then our only flock of PINE
SISKIN for the day. The pond held two WILSON'S SNIPE, a drake
RING-NECKED DUCK, and a couple of female HOODED MERGANSERS. From
the Rowing Club dock, I caught sight of the only AMERICAN COOT and
COMMON GOLDENEYE of the day, one each. Finally, as I got to the car, I
was able to spot a HOUSE SPARROW across the street.

For the day, 54 species.

= Michael

Golden-crowned SparrowOllie Oliver's photo of a Wilson's Snipe, a
bit below the weir

Peregrine Falcon in Snag Row

You can see the wings are about as long as
the tail, and you can see the black "helmet" on the head, leaving the
ear area light-colored.

American Kestrel on a soccer goal post

Ollie snapped this one of the kestrel in
flight

Ollie's photograph shows it to be a nice
adult male kestrel

Ollie's photo of Northern Harrier

Okay - maybe I'm getting
carried away. But there are so many different
(mostly)
photogenic fungi and mushrooms at Marymoor

Report for December 13, 2007

The morning started dark and cloudy, but the rain held off for the first
couple of hours. Then it stopped holding off. Between about 10:30 and
noon, the rain slowly grew in intensity. It wasn't exactly pouring, even
when we left, but I was more than damp.

The birds were somewhat scarce, and often hard to see in the dim
light. Let us be thankful that, after next week, the days will be
getting longer again!

Despite the rain, I made the executive decision to trudge over to the
Velodrome, where we found the large flock of CACKLING GEESE, mixed with
enough CANADAs to get a good size comparison. There was also an adult
GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE amongst them.

Other highlights:

SWANS
A flock of 17, flying south, probably Trumpeters
Northern Pintail
Flock(s) early (before 8:00), flying south - 200+
Green-winged Teal 1 male
at the Rowing Club - few so far this fall
Ring-necked Duck 3 males
at RC - First of Fall - where've they been
Bufflehead
LOTS at the lake - 75+
Barn Owl
Matt had one very early at the windmill
Hairy Woodpecker Male across the
slough from the windmill
Townsend's Warbler One or two NE of the
mansion
Western Meadowlark One at the East Meadow

We had a few birds that cooperated - a PURPLE FINCH that landed right
above our heads, a GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET at about 10 feet, and a BROWN
CREEPER that worked the bottom 5 feet of the same tree for several
minutes.

For the day, a surprisingly high count of 56 species.

== Michael

OK - so the view of the swans was distant. Still cool.The cooperative Purple Finch at the 2nd dog
swim beach